Be the Turtle
by shopgirl152
Summary: What starts off as a simple storybook becomes much more as Phineas and Candace grow up. one-shot. Slight spoilers for Save Summer near the end.


**A/N: **So this is based off a quick exchange between Phineas and Candace in the Phineas and Ferb Save Summer special. Contains mild spoilers for the end of the special, though I don't think they're to bad. Enjoy guys!

* * *

_Eight years ago_

"Candy, pwease read me a stowy." Phineas tugged on his sister's skort. "Pwease?"

"Not now Phineas. I have something important to do." The seven year old put a hand down, shoving her brother toward the door. "There's a new kid at school; I gotta call Stacy and see if she knows him."

"Tacy?"

"_Stacy_. St-st-st." She glared at him in annoyance. "STacy. Geez; you can build these stupid elaborate lego constructions, but you can't pronounce my best friend's name." Candace studied him a moment. "What kind of toddler does that? It's supposed to be the other way around, you know."

The red head blinked at her, putting a thumb in his mouth, only to remove it just as quickly, holding a book up. "Stowy?"

"Hey! Where'd you get that?!" He pointed to one of her bookshelves. "You little twerp; I told you to…" she sighed in defeat, looking into her brother's now puppy dog eyes. "Ugh. You're not going to give up unless I read to you, are you?"

He grinned. "Me want stowy." He reached up, sliding the book onto the bed next to her before lifting his arms above his head. "Up?"

"Fine. But only because Mom's still working." Candace reached down, lifting her brother onto the bed with a grunt. "Geez you're getting heavy." She went to say something else, only to pause as the little boy climbed into her lap, snuggling against her chest. He pointed to the book. "Stowy?"

She reached over, sliding the book across the bed. "The Turtle and the Rabbit. Huh. Well, sounds interesting at least." She flipped to the first page. "Once upon a time, a long time ago, there was a turtle and a rabbit. They lived in the same forest and one day, the rabbit said to the turtle…" she turned the page, her voice dropping an octave. "I'm a rabbit! I'm the fastest animal in this forest and I dare anybody to beat me in a race!"

Phineas giggled, his eyes widening as Candace turned another page.

"The turtle stepped up and said 'well, that's not to hard. I'll take you on Mr. Rabbit. You don't need to be fast to win a race."

"You don't?" The little red head asked.

She looked at him. "I don't know. I think rabbits are faster. Let's find out." She turned another page. "So the turtle and the rabbit set up a day to race and on the day of the race, the turtle left his house. And all the way there, he said 'slow and steady wins the race, slow and steady wins the race.'"

"What did wabbit say?"

"Umm…" Candace flipped a couple of pages. "Oh! He said 'I'm the best! I can win this race!" She looked down at her brother, smiling at the suddenly heavy eyelids. "Do you wanna take a nap?"

"No. Finish stowy." He yawned, snuggling further into her. "Wanna see who wins race."

"Let's see…" the girl flipped a few more pages. "So the rabbit ran and ran and ran, leaving the poor turtle all alone. Haha, he said. I knew I was fastest! There's no way that rabbit is going to beat me. I'm already a head! I'll just stop and take a nap under this tree. So the rabbit took a nap." She glanced down at her brother; the little boy was sound asleep.

Her voice turned to a whisper. "But then the rabbit woke up. Just in time to see the turtle pass by. All the while, the turtle said 'slow and steady wins the race.'" She went to close the book, only for a groggy voice to sound from her lap.

"Who won?"

"The turtle." Candace softly closed the book, sliding it to the side before laying down on the bed, her brother on top of her. "Because slow and steady wins the race." She smiled wryly. "At least that's what the book said."

* * *

_Four years ago_

"I don't care what you say! I'm wearing this to school!" Candace jumped up from the table, sprinting out of the kitchen. "This is so unfair!"

"Oh dear." Lawrence frowned. "I didn't mean to be that harsh." He turned to his wife. "Was that out of line? I do think that skirt was just little to short for a birthday party…"

Linda kissed him on the cheek. "It's okay honey; Candace is twelve. It's normal for this to happen. She's almost a teenager." She smiled wryly. "If you think it's bad now, think what'll be like when she turns thirteen."

"As always, you are right." He returned the kiss, smiling cheekily. "Best go shore up the foundation."

"Lawrence."

"Only kidding Darling, only kidding."

* * *

"Ooo…I hate him I hate him I hate him!" Candace growled, tossing shirts, shoes and several skorts onto her bed. "I don't know why I have to change clothes; it's the latest fashion. Everyone is wearing them. He's not even my real Dad." She plucked an outfit from a hanger, grumbling under her breath. "My real Dad wouldn't make me change."

"Hey Candace, have you seen my old lunchbox? Ferb and I were going to give it to Isabella…" the seven year old trailed off as he entered his sister's room. "Why are your clothes all over the floor?"

"_Lawrence_ won't let me wear this skirt to Stacy's birthday party. He says it's to short and that girls my age shouldn't be wearing them."

"We're supposed to call him Dad."

"But he's not our Dad Phineas! Don't you get it? Dad died five years ago and all of a sudden, we're supposed to act like Lawrence is our Dad?"

Phineas blinked. "He is our Dad." He smiled. "He took Ferb and I out for ice cream yesterday. You should have come. Dad still doesn't know what flavor you like."

"And he's not going to!" The pre-teen flung herself dramatically onto the bed, grabbing a pillow before burying her face in it.

"Is the lunchbox—"

The boy turned around, motioning his brother downstairs before closing the door to his sister's room. "Candace, Lawrence may not be our real Dad, but he's still a good Dad."

"No he's not."

"He bought us Perry; he takes us to the park; he drops us off at school…" the seven year old started counting off on his fingers. "His store is really cool, he helped Mom fix Ducky Momo…" he paused in thought. "He even put a band-aide on the scrape I got from the park last week. He kissed it and made it better."

She lifted the pillow, peeking out at him. "This isn't going to be solved with a band-aide."

"How about a story?"

"Phineas—"

Before Candace could say another word, her brother reached inside the bookshelf near the bed, plucking a book from the stack before opening it. "Once upon a time, a long time ago, there was a turtle and a rabbit. They lived in the same forest and one day, the rabbit said to the turtle—" he wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Come on Candace, use the voice."

"Stop that."

"I'm a rabbit! I'm the fastest animal in this forest and I dare anybody to beat me in a race!"

"_Phineas_…"

"The turtle stepped up and said 'well, that's not to hard. I'll take you on Mr. Rabbit. You don't need to be fast to win a race."

"If you don't stop reading right now, I'm telling Mom."

"Slow and steady wins the race." The girl glared at him and he stopped, shutting the book before placing it back in the bookshelf. His brow furrowed in thought. "You know, it's kind of like Dad. Slow and steady."

"What?"

"It doesn't happen overnight. It's a slow and steady process getting to know someone. Even if you've known them for five years."

"_Ugh_. Speak English."

Phineas smiled. "It takes time to get close enough to someone to be comfortable with them." He headed toward the bedroom door, grabbing the handle and pulling it open. "Give Dad a chance. He's not so bad once you get to know him. He's actually really cool."

The twelve year old groaned, throwing the pillow off her head before grabbing the book from the shelf.

* * *

_Later that day…_

"Dad?"

Lawrence looked up from the book he was reading, watching as his daughter entered the room. "Hello Candace." His gaze fell to the book in her hand. "What's that?"

The girl rubbed a hand down her arm, eyes trained on the floor. "Will you read this to me? It's a book Phineas and I used to read." She smiled. "I used to read it to him."

"Why yes, of course. I would love to." He set his book to the side, patting the couch cushion next to him. "So what book is it then?"

"The Turtle and the Rabbit."

"Ooo…splendid! I used to read this myself when I was a lad."

"Wait. You read this?"

"Oh yes. Mum used to read it to me all the time. Looks like it's been passed down from generation to generation." He waited for Candace to sit down before opening the book. "Now let's see here—"

"Butter pecan."

"Beg pardon?"

"Butter pecan." Candace laughed nervously. "It's my favorite type of ice cream."

Lawrence smiled at her as he opened the book. "That's very good to know."

* * *

_Present Day_

"I was afraid of that. Listen, push the rockets up above the red line."

His sister's voice crackled over the com-link. "But Phineas, you said that would be bad!"

"Well, there is the slight chance of pulling the planet apart…"

"That's a bad thing!"

It's our only chance Candace! We should be okay if we just do it slow and steady!"

The teenager brightened. "Oh. Just like the rabbit in the story."

"Yes, exact— Wait, no! Like the turtle! Like the turtle!"

"The turtle? Wasn't it the rabbit who—"

"Candace, as much as I'd love to debate this with you, we only have a limited amount of time before summer's gone forever. Look, I'll read you the story tonight; just push the levels of the rockets above the red line."

"Read the story?" Isabella asked. She glanced up at Ferb.

"It's rather hard to explain."

"Slow and steady wins the race. Slow and steady wins the race." The teen's voice resounded over the com-link as everyone held their breath. "Phineas, I don't think I can do this."

"Yes you can Candace. Be the turtle."

"Be the turtle?" This time, Buford, Isabella and Baljeet all looked up at the other brother.

"Again, it's rather hard to explain."

"Man, she better fix this soon. Cause if she don't, I'm gonna—whoa!" Buford gripped the rope tighter as the entire earth seemed to shake.

"Phineas, what's happening?"

"Unless I've missed my guess, the earth is moving again. Shut down the rockets Candace!" A loud scramble was heard, followed by a shriek. "Candace!" The boy's eyes widened. "Candace! You there? Candace, we—oh." He looked around. "It stopped. We're not moving anymore. Candace you did it!"

"I did?" A pause. "Oh, what do you know? I did."

Phineas beamed. "Great job Sis. Just sit tight; we're going to pack up everything here, then we'll be home. Oh, and grab the book; I know what else we're gonna do today."

* * *

Candace lay under the tree in the backyard, lazily watching as a bird flitted through the leaves. "Okay, I totally understand why they do this; it's actually kind of peaceful under here—"

"There she is! The hero of the day!" Her brother waved as him and the others entered the yard. Phineas looked around. "Hey, where'd the command center go?"

She shrugged as the others sat down. "Who knows? Probably the same place the last one went."

"That is a rather common occurrence," Ferb noted.

"Yeah." The others all nodded in agreement.

"Umm…Phineas?" Isabella started. "Not that this isn't nice or anything, but isn't there a musical tribute to summer we should be getting back to?"

"We'll get to that in a minute." He waved the comment away. "Before we do though, I want to share something with all of you." He glanced to the side, smiling as Candace handed him a book. "You see, this is the story of The Turtle and the Rabbit. Candace read it to me when I was little, then Dad read it to her and, well…" his gaze fell to the book. "Let's just say, whenever Candace and I were having a bad day, this book would always cheer us up and make us feel better. The phrase "slow and steady" would remind us that even when things were bad, they would eventually get better. As long as we took things slow."

"What about the 'be the turtle part?'" Baljeet asked.

Phineas laughed. "Oh, that's just an inside joke. It's a way for us to remind each other without having to explain the whole story." He turned to his sister. "Right Candace?"

"Yep." She sat up, stretching her back before sitting cross-legged on the grass.

"Anyway guys, Candace and I thought we'd read this to you. You know, so everyone can enjoy it. If that's alright with you guys anyway." He gestured to a corner of the yard. "Looks like Irving's got the simulcast covered."

The others looked over to where Irving was standing, rocking out inside the Ferbographic machine. They all laughed.

"I'm always up for a story," said Isabella.

"Yeah, count us in," Buford and Baljeet added.

"Great!" The ten year old handed the book back to his sister. "Wanna start Candace?"

"I'd be happy too." She took the book from him, opening it to the first page. "Once upon a time, a long time ago, there was a turtle and a rabbit. They lived in the same forest and one day, the rabbit said to the turtle 'I'm a rabbit! I'm the fastest—'"

"No no no. Not like that." Phineas laughed, grabbing the book from her. "You have to do the voice." He looked around at his friends. "It's supposed to sound like this." He cleared his throat. "I'm a rabbit! I'm the fastest animal in this forest and I dare anybody to beat me in a race!"

The teenager laughed, grabbing the book from him. "Yeah yeah." She continued reading. "The turtle stepped up and said 'well, that's not to hard. I'll take you on Mr. Rabbit. You don't need to be fast to win a race."

"But where is the slow and steady part?" Baljeet asked.

"Yeah," Isabella agreed. "We want to hear that part."

Phineas and Candace looked at each other and grinned, flipping to the end of the book, reading in unison. "But then the rabbit woke up. Just in time to see the turtle pass by. All the while, the turtle said 'slow and steady wins the race.'"

"So the rabbit won right?" Buford asked. "Because he was fastest?"

"No. The turtle won," Phineas answered.

"Lame."

"It's not lame Buford; the turtle won because he didn't give up when things looked bad. He persevered. Just like Candace didn't give up."

"And thus she became the turtle." Baljeet smiled.

Phineas reached over, hugging his sister. "Five year old Candace would be proud."


End file.
